About

A country girl from Laos who is now a strong, compassionate woman with the vision to share.

Here I share the insights, wisdom, tips and tools for a meaningful and authentic way of living. Most writing comes from my personal and spiritual learning journey, daily journalling, asking questions and channelling the answer.

If you find any post helpful, please share so others can benefit; remember to let me know what you think; I look forward to reading your comments.

Enjoy the reading and travelling inward 🙂

A glimpse of my story.

It all began with listening to the Buddists’ Principles of living a peaceful and liberated life.

I have always been passionate about goodness and morality.

I am also a life fighter.

I studied to be a doctor, but unfortunately, parts of me were unfavourable of this career path; therefore, I decided to drop out of medical school.

I went to study the truth of life and the meaning of my existence at 038 Meditation Center: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075991580003. There, I met with Phra Mea Thongkeo, who taught me the Buddhist principles of living a healing, mindful and liberated life. The way to find inner peace in the middle of the chaotic world; The arts of selfless sacrifice.

I gained knowledge and understanding and would like to help wider communities. So I decided to apply for Australian Awards Scholarship to study in Australia to obtain the skills for supporting communities.

In Australia, I never stop fighting and developing myself. I started from working in restaurants, factories, and shopping centres to working with educational institutes and community support organisations. I spoke and advocated for marginalised groups of people, and mentored young people with mental illness and diverse genders. I also run projects to contribute to the better health and wellness of the community.

I never stop fighting, fight by myself, and never trouble my family. Instead, I support my family and work on being the best version of myself.

There are times I failed, stumbled but never had I give up. I always get back up straight and move forward. I never made mistakes, hurt people, or did things against my integrity with intention.

With hard work and perseverance, I finally can buy a house for my mum in my hometown, a home for myself in Vientiane and reward myself with my first-ever car. I am currently working at an Embassy supporting human development and capacity-building projects.

My vision is to inspire, guide, and provide tools for others to live healthy, meaningful, and authentic lives.

Please read my story below to learn more about me and my journey. It details how I grew through hardship and stormy days and came to the other side with an abundant mindset and a courageous, compassionate heart.

My story in brief

My root

I have Vietnamese blood. My grandpa is Vietnamese. He got separated from his family during the Vietnam War when he was 5. My great-grandparents adopted him, and he had never met his Vietnamese family in his entire life. My grandma is Lao with Suay ethnic minority background.

My family and childhood

A girl was born in a small rural village in Laos, South East Asia. My parents work on the farm for a living to support their 10 children ( 3 from my dad’s side), and I am the youngest. We are an ethnic minority, and none of my parents graduated from primary school. 

Ever since I remember, I have worked hard to support my family to make ends meet. In primary school, from grades 2 to 5, I made simple ice cream with my sister and sold it to my peers at school. I did not get chances to play as a normal kid. At high school when there is a festival, me and my sister set up my little stores selling snacks to kids. In high school, I planted vegetables and sold them at the local market before and after school every day. At the weekend, I helped my mum with farm work. 

My income is enough to keep me at school. I was also responsible for the electric and water bill of the family. 

My dad passed away from a stroke during this period. On his deathbed, he had millions of words to say to his children and beloved wife but could not speak because he was half-body paralysed. Seeing his suffering on physical and emotional levels hurt me. So I promised him I would be a doctor to care for mum and everybody in the family. 

There were times when I felt tired physically and emotionally. I felt as if I had missed out on a playful childhood. Nevertheless, I am so fortunate to be born and race in a family where education is our core value. My mum is a single mother fighter who does everything to ensure her kids get the best education possible. Never once would my mum make me and my siblings feel pressure, no matter how hard life would be. On the contrary, she always shows us the power of perseverance and hard work and encourages us to commit to education. 

My education journey 

To give you more pictures of my educational journey, I would like to go back a little. 

I never got into kindergarten because we could not afford it. I fail in grade 2. Not sure if this was related to me starting to selling ice cream that year 😉 Yes, I did disappoint my parents. 

From grade 3, I did my best. As a result, I landed in the top 5 students in primary school and the top 2 students in high school. 

In my last year of high school, I moved to stay with my aunt in the city to access better resources to set me up for the University. Life there was different. It was the opportunity to play and behave as a teenager. But, instead, my spirit of fighting from my mum is so strong and already in my DNA. My desire to strive for the best was urging me to study harder. My hard work paid off; I received the highest score on the final exam in the entire country in 2012. 

 My broken pieces.  

After completing high school, the dream came true. I received a scholarship to study at a medical school in Vietnam to be a doctor. However, after a month, I dropped out as I received another scholarship to a medical school in the capital city of Laos. Along with the medical degree, I also receive a scholarship from an organisation to study English at a private college. 

I never took the opportunity for granted and always went the extra mile. As a result, I was in the top 3 students in my batch. After 1,5 years at medical school, I realised that to be a doctor is an honoured path; doctors save lives and provide physical treatment to many. However, deep down, I discovered that it was not for me. I did not see myself working in the hospital or wearing a doctor’s white coat in my professional career. 

I wanted to change my path, but the last thing I wanted was to disappoint my family. The internal fighting and anxiety led me to have a headache. I could not focus, and many times I missed classes.

After 3 months of suffering from the headache, I asked my family and teachers permission to drop out; actually, I decided to drop out whether or not they agreed. 

My peers were in shock. Many of my friends in the province said I was having a mental breakdown. I was a public failure. 

My family was upset; my aunt and brothers were furious, mum was disappointed, and I was heartbroken. I did not dare to visit my hometown for 3 years straight. 

My healing and spiritual journey 

To escape the mess, rest my body, heal my heart and feel my soul, I went to 308 Meditation Center: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075991580003 for shelter. There, I met with Phra Mea Thongkeo, who taught me the Buddhist principles of living a healing, fulfilled, mindful and liberated life. The way to find inner peace in the middle of the chaotic world. Connect with my body and every part of my being. Gain perspectives and wisdom on life circumstances. To cleanse the mind, purify the heart and liberate the souls. To connect with truth beyond the human body. To develop mindful living—the art of selfless sacrifice. 

I have always been passionate about goodness and morality; serving others is the way of self-liberation and contributing to the greatest good for all. I started practising meditation when I was in primary school. Not in-depth, but enough to learn to observe my breathing and to realise the power of being present. I always knew I would like to help others heal and transform their lives and connect to the power beyond the human body: the source, god, the Universe, divine intelligence, intuition, gut instinct or whatever one may refer it to. 

My purpose and transformation journey 

To fulfil my calling, I applied for an Australian Award Scholarship to support a broader community beyond Laos. At the first attempt, I won a scholarship to study for a Diploma in Community Services at Holmesglen Institute in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.  

In Melbourne, as a fighter, I did my best in every area of life, including school, work, building wealth, supporting community and personal development. 

Within 3 years, my perseverance and hard work led me to win the Holmesglen Outstanding International Student Award of 2020 and the Dean’s Award for the best academic excellence.

I worked as a waitress in a restaurant, selling ice cream at shopping centres, as a factory worker, student ambassador at school, a project coordinator at a local community organisation. I save up as much as possible. 

I also volunteered with community-supporting organisations to support people with mental illness, LGBTIQ+, the elderly, and refugees.

 I also run different projects 

• advocate for the rights and needs of international students and refugees, 
• addressing and educating people about sexual harassment, 
• project on health and wellness to the local community

Australia is my second home. I touched many lives and created the most beautiful connection with so many people. Yet, at the same time, I transformed my life. 

Being able to understand and communicate in English opened up abundant opportunities. It enabled me to access world-class transformative resources. I emerged myself in personal growth: life coach, courses, books, podcasts, and transformative content on youtube and other social media platforms. Learning the skill of living a great life with the proof of cutting-edge scientific research makes me realise that my spiritual practice matches science. My personal growth journey up lifted my knowledge to another level. 

In Australia, I never stop fighting, fight by myself, and never trouble my family. Instead, I support my family and work on being the best version of myself to help others unlock their full potential and be the best version of themselves. 

There are times I failed, stumbled but never had I give up. I always get back up straight and move forward. I never made mistakes, hurt people, or did things against my integrity with intention. 

 I returned to Laos in 2020.

I am so grateful that my family and many friends are proud of what I did and who I have become, and I believe my dad does too. 

My imperfection

Before getting to this point, one of the things that I was struggling with was the addiction to winning and the fear of defeating. 

As someone who always strikes for the best, I had unrealistic expectations of myself. Many times, it hurt me instead of helping me. I would do things just for the sake of winning without considering whether those things bring meaning and joy into my life. 

I would get jealous and resent those who earned first place or did better. 

I would do anything in my power to be number one in everything, whether to be the favourite, the best student, or the most loved and respected friend in the group. 

When I was in medical school, I craved approval and respect. So I would act mature while the inside was full of insecurity. I did not dare to accept my flaws and unapologetically be me fully.

Me now and moving forward. 

Now. I am different; I have grown, and overcome my ignorance. 

I can see and heal my insecurity through mindfulness practice, self-awareness rituals, and daily reflection. 

Never before have I felt this secure, satisfied and grateful for who I am and what I have. I am committed to loving and accepting myself as I am, regardless of whether I am number one or no one. 

I am so excited about the journey ahead of me and what I can create to support others to becoming the best version of themselves, even if it means they may do better than me in some way ^__^

I also think. Now is the right time to share what I have learned with the world, including my spiritual practice and the knowledge I cultivate throughout my personal growth path. 

I have wanted to create this blog since 2019, but with fear and other circumstances, it did not come to life. But the time has come! 

You may think, WOW, finally, she got everything figured out! But that is not the case. I am still far from perfect and still have things to work on. 

I am still fearful; it’s just that I don’t allow fear to stop me from going after my calling. So many times, I am scared, but I do it anyway.

I still see the desire for approval, the jealousy and the urge to be number one. Of course, not to the same degree as before, but now and then, I still spot its existence. As I want to keep my heart free and my soul pure, I remind myself that this Universe is infinite. There are abundant opportunities for everybody to succeed and enough room for all to shine.  

My vision is to inspire, guide and provide tools for others to be the hero of their own lives and shine their unique bright light in this infinite Universe —to live a healthy, meaningful and authentic life. 

This is me, A country girl from Laos who is now a strong, compassionate woman with the vision to share.

Nang Souphaphone